Islamic Philosophy: Averroes and Al Ghazali on causality

Averroes and Alghazali on Causality

A simple definition of the word causality may be: the principle or relationship between cause and effect, the agency of a cause; the action of a cause in producing its effect. Discussing the nature of causality, however, is far more complicated then the definition implies. What is the cause of a stone falling to the ground when it is thrown? “ Is it the muscular movement of the hand, the law of gravity, the nature of the stone, as opposed for example to a feather, the will of the person who throws it, or the potential in each case that God has endowed them with.”
In this paper I will attempt to analyze and compare the views of two infamous Islamic philosophers, Averroes and Alghazali, on the controversial issues on causality. Aristotle came up with an accepted distinction between four levels of causes: material cause, formal cause, efficient cause, and final cause. The material cause is what the object is made up of. The formal cau...